Southeast Air & Mechanical Systems, LLC, a 15-year-old heating and air conditioning contractor owned by Danny Baker, has changed its name and become a franchisee for One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning.
Baker said he joined the national heating and air conditioning brand to help gain better training, software and support services.
“By being a One Hour, we have even more resources available to us that will benefit our customers and help us provide the best service we can offer,” Baker said.
The Chattanooga company has 15 employees and 10 trucks and, true to its name, it will offer some services within an hour. One Hour is currently ranked No. 1 in the HVAC services category in Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500 list.
“It’s great to have Danny and his entire team as part of our national network,” said Mark Baker, president of Franchise, Direct Energy. “Their commitment to exceptional customer service is what sets them apart, and we look forward to working with them as they continue to serve the community.”
Volkswagen Chattanooga workers meet with plant management about time off policy
A group of Chattanooga Volkswagen plant employees met Friday with factory management over a proposed change in the use of personal time off during a three-day shut down next month.
After meeting with the production workers, managers decided to not make the change, said plant spokeswoman Amanda Plecas.
“We listened to them this morning,” she said.
Plecas said the next year’s production calendar was released Thursday, and managers realized they had communicated the proposed Jan. 2-4 change to employees too late.
She said the January shut down is related to preparing the plant to begin production of the five-seat Atlas SUV next year. Volkswagen also has a previously announced shut down during the week of Christmas.
“Each year we identify days when the company can schedule company-wide paid time off to cover maintenance and any needed changes in tooling,” Plecas said “We’ve had to increase that scheduled paid time off for 2019 to mitigate the impact of new investment in the factory to build the new Atlas Cross Sport as well as to prepare for the 2020 Passat.”
J&J denies report of asbestos powder
Johnson & Johnson on Friday forcefully denied a media report that it knew for decades about the existence of trace amounts of asbestos in its baby powder.
Reuters cited documents released as part of a lawsuit by plaintiffs claiming that the product can be linked to ovarian cancer. The New Brunswick, New Jersey company has battled in court against such claims and on Friday called the Reuters report “one-sided, false and inflammatory.”
Johnson & Johnson’s stock fell $14.84, or 10 percent, to close Friday at $133, its most severe single-day decline since 2002.
CBS gives grants to women’s groups
CBS on Friday pledged to give $20 million to 18 organizations dedicated to eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace as the network tries to recover from a scandal that led to the ouster of its top executive, Les Moonves.
The announcement comes as the network’s crisis deepens, with details emerging from an ongoing investigation into Moonves’ conduct and news surfacing of other instances of sexual misconduct at CBS.
In the latest revelation, CBS acknowledged that it reached a $9.5 million confidential settlement last year with actress Eliza Dushku, who said she was written off the show “Bull” in March 2017 after complaining about on-set sexual comments from its star, Michael Weatherly. Some women’s rights activists called on CBS to fire Weatherly.
The funds for the grants to the 18 organizations are being deducted from severance owed to Moonves under his contract, and the company had previously said the former CEO would have a say in which groups would receive the money.
But whether Moonves, who was one of the television industry’s most powerful executives, receives the remaining $120 million of his severance hinges on the investigation, which is being conducted by two outside law firms. The company has said Moonves would not be entitled to the severance if its board of directors determines he was fired for cause.